Bobby Pierce wins his first Pittsburgher 100

By Steve Skarupa
October 9, 2018

Imperial, PA

For immediate release

Despite the rain, it was a beautiful weekend at Dirt’s Monster Half Mile for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series 30th annual Pittsburgher 100. On Friday, PPMS would see qualifying, 11 heat races, and three feature events. In the Diehl Automotive RUSH Late Model Dirt Series non-winners race, Chuck Medved (2M) from Imperial, PA picked up his first career win at PPMS. Casey Grumling (77X) from Elrama, PA and Dave Sheriff (8) from Imperial, PA picked up wins in the Keystone Coach Works Hobby Stock division with Grumling (77X) as the Open Motor and Sheriff (8) the legal motor. Andy Garlinger (R88) from Hopedale, OH picked up the win in the Open Four Cylinder division, while Kyle Janus (88) from Coraopolis, PA took the win in the Three Rivers Karting Young Guns division. The Open Four Cylinders and the Young Guns features were combined.

On Saturday, PPMS was set to see three b-mains, two six-lap dashes, and four feature events, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Heavy rain rolled through Saturday afternoon, forcing track officials to postpone the action until Sunday afternoon.

The sun was shining on Sunday, allowing the pits and race track to dry up from the heavy rain on Saturday. With the cooperation from Mother Nature, PPMS would get the remainder of the event in the books. Bobby Pierce (32) from Oakwood, IL would win the 100-lap Pittsburgher 100 for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Daryl Charlier (12C) from Midway, PA won the 40-lap Bill Hendren Memorial for the Diehl Automotive RUSH Late Model Dirt Series. Charlier (12C) also won the Bill Hendren Memorial last year. Jason Fosnaught (73) from Tarentum, PA won the 25-lap Penn Ohio Pro Stock “Wee” Willie White Memorial. Matt Dobnak (42) from West Mifflin, PA won the 8-lap RUSH Late Model Dirt Series non-qualifiers feature.

Michael Norris (72) from Sarver, PA would set the fast time in qualifying for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series with a time of 17.667 but Jimmy Owens (20) from Newport, TN would start on the pole in the 100-lap feature event. To his outside was Mike Marlar (157) from Winfield, TN. Making up the second row was Scott Bloomquist (0) from Mooresburg, TN in third and Brandon Sheppard (1) from New Berlin, TN in fourth. Norris (72) would start in fifth and Josh Richards (1) from Shinnston, WV would complete the top three rows. When the green flag dropped, Marlar (157) would grab the early lead with Sheppard (1) in second and Owens (20) in third. Marlar (157) would contend with lapped traffic by lap eight and he would continue to lead when trouble struck on lap 14 with the event’s first caution for debris on the race track. Marlar (157) fell victim to the debris, shredding his right rear tire. Marlar (157) went to the pits under caution, had his tire changed, and was back out to tag the field. Sheppard (1) would lead the restart with Owens (20) in second, Richards (1R) in third, Bloomquist (0) in fourth, and Jonathan Davenport (49) from Blairsville, GA in fifth. Lap 16 saw the second caution when the 99B of Boom Briggs from Bear Lake, PA tagged the wall coming out of turn four. Sheppard (1) would lead the field on the restart with all cars now on the lead lap and Norris (72) now in the top five. Sheppard (1) continued to lead through lap 20 with Owens (20) on his tail when the field would see another caution for the 69 of Jon Hodgkiss from Pittsburgh, PA. Sheppard (1) would lead the restart with Owens (20) in second, Richards (1) in third, Bloomquist in fourth, Davenport (49) in fifth, and Norris (72) fell to seventh. When the green flag waved, Sheppard (1) would once again retain the lead. Sheppard (1) would start making his way through lapped traffic again and would continue to lead through lap 35 with Owens (20) right behind him. Derek Stefanick (65) from Imperial, PA had car trouble on lap 36 and would bring out another caution. Sheppard (1) would lead the restart with Owens (20) in second, Richards (1) in third, Bloomquist (0) in fourth, and Ricky Thorton Jr. (20RT) from Chandler, AZ now in fifth. Sheppard (1) would continue to lead through lap 44 with Owens (20) in tow when the field would see another caution for Hodgkiss (69). With 56 laps to go Sheppard (1) would lead the restart but a lap wouldn’t be completed before the caution was back out for a drive shaft on the front straightaway. The field would return to green for one lap when the caution came back out for the 22 of Gregg Satterlee from Indiana, PA. Again, Sheppard (1) would lead the field on the restart with Owens (20) still in second, Richards (1) still in third, Davenport (49) now in fourth, and Bloomquist (0) now in fifth. The field would go green for two more laps before the next caution on lap 46. Sheppard (1) would lead the field for another lap when another caution would slow the pace on lap 47. Again, Sheppard (1) would lead the restart with Owens (20) in second, Davenport (49) now in third, Norris (72) now in fourth, and Richards (1) now in fifth. When the green flag waved, Norris (72) would move into third place behind Owens (20) and Sheppard (1). With debris in turn four, the caution would come back out on lap 53. Sheppard (1), Owens (20), and Norris (72) would restart one, two, and three respectively with Davenport (49) in fourth, and Richards (1) in fifth. Sheppard (1) continued to lead the field through lap 67 but the man on the move was Pierce (32) who was now in fifth. Pierce (32) would take over the fourth spot on lap 75 and he would move into third place on lap 78. Owens (20) would put pressure on the leader on lap 80 but Sheppard (1) would hold the lead for now. On lap 85, Owens (20) would make a nice move coming off of turn four to take over the lead and Pierce (32) would follow him into second place. Lap 88 would see another caution and after leading most of the race Sheppard (1) had a right rear flat tire. With 12 laps to go, Owens (20) would lead the field on the restart with Pierce (32) in second, Davenport (49) in third, Earl Pearson Jr. (1) from Jacksonville, FL in fourth, and Norris (72) in fifth. When the green flag dropped, Pierce (32) would take over the lead on lap 90 and would lead the remaining 10 laps, en route to his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Pittsburgher 100 victory. Following him to the line was Owens (20) in second, Pearson Jr. (1) in third, Davenport (49) in fourth, Richards (1) in fifth, Tim McCreadie (39) in sixth, Thorton Jr. (20RT) in seventh, Don O’Neal in eighth, Dennis Erb Jr. (28) in ninth, and Darrell Lanigan (14) rounded out the top ten. Heat race winners were Owens (20), Bloomquist (0), Marlar (157), and Sheppard (1). Thorton Jr. (20RT) won the B-main. Other notables were, McCreadie (39) finished sixth after starting twenty-fourth and did not participate in qualifying due to another race elsewhere on Friday. With his fourth-place finish this weekend, Davenport (49) has clinched the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Championship for 2018.

The Bill Hendren Memorial for the RUSH Late Model Dirt Series would see Grant Garrison (1G) as the fast qualifier with a time of 19.191. Garrison (1G) would also win the six-lap dash, making him the pole-sitter for the 40-lap feature. To his outside was Jacob Hawkins (13H) from Fairmont, WV. Starting in third was Charlier (12C) and Nico Dabecco (F1) from Pittsburgh, PA started in fourth. When the green flag dropped, Garrison (1G) would retain the early lead with Hawkins (13H) in second, Dabecco (F1) in third, Scott Gunn (14G) from McDonald, PA in fourth, and Charlier (12C) in fifth. Lap five saw the event’s first caution for the 11L of John Waters from Whitesville, NY who had trouble in turn four. Garrison (1G) would lead the field on the restart and would retain the lead once the field returned to green-flag action. Charlier (12C) was on the move on lap eight when he would pass Dabecco (F1) for fourth place. Lap 13 saw another caution and Garrison (1G) would lead the field on the restart with Hawkins (13H) still in second, Mike Pegher Jr. (1C) from Cranberry Township, PA now in third, Charlier (12C) in fourth, and Dabecco (F1) in fifth. When the green flag waved, Hawkins (13H) didn’t have a good restart which allowed Pegher Jr. (1C) to move into second and Charlier (12C) into third with Hawkins (13H) falling to fourth. Charlier (12C) would move into second place on lap 19 and he would steal the lead from Garrison (1G) at the halfway point. Charlier (12C) would begin to make his way through lapped traffic on lap 24 and would continue to lead with 10 laps to go. Charlier (12C) would dominate the remaining 10 laps, en route to his second Bill Hendren Memorial in a row. Following him to the line was Hawkins (13H) in second, Pegher Jr. (1C) in third, Jeremy Wonderling (3J) in fourth, Grant Garrison (1G) in fifth, Mike Duritsky (90J) in sixth, Dabecco (F1) in seventh, Justin Lamb (93X) in eighth, Gunn (14G) in ninth, and Jason Genco (29J) in tenth. Heat race winners were Garrison (1G), Charlier (12C), Hawkins (13H), Dabecco (F1), and Gunn (14G). B-main winners were Bob Schwartzmiller (28S) and Tim Shaffer (45). Garrison (1G) won the dash.

The “Wee” Wille White Memorial for the Penn Ohio Pro Stocks would see Chris Schneider (55) from Creighton, PA setting the fast time of 20.470. Schneider (55) would also win the dash but he was forced to tag the field in the 25-lap feature because he switched to a backup car. With Schneider (55) starting at the tail of the field, Fosnaught (55) would be the pole-sitter. Starting in second was Jeff Broniszewski (08) from Coraopolis, PA. Rusty Martz (16M) from Brookville, PA would start in third and Dave McManus (114) from Elizabeth, PA would complete the top two rows. When the green flag dropped, Fosnaught (73) would retain an early lead. With one lap in the books, the caution would come out for the 25G of Andrew Gordon from Dubois, PA. Fosnaught (73) would choose the inside on the restart with Broniszewski (08) in second, and Martz (16M) in third. On lap three, Corey McPherson (C33) from Leechburg would move into third place after starting twelfth. Fosnaught (73) continued to lead through lap 12 and on lap 13 the caution would come back out for Broniszewski (08). Fosnaught (73) would lead the field on the restart with Cam Kraisinger (47) from Mount Pleasant now in second, McPherson (C33) now in third, Rob Shook (64S) now in fourth, and Schneider (55) now if fifth after starting last. As soon as the green flag waved, the caution was back out on lap 14 for McManus (114) who had car trouble in turn four. Again, Fosnaught (73) would lead the restart and would continue to lead the race but Schneider (55) was now right behind him in second place. Fosnaught (73) would lead the remaining 10 laps of the event en route to his second PPMS win of the season. He was followed to the line by Schneider (55) in second, Shook (64S) in third, Kraisinger (47) in fourth, McPherson (C33) in fifth, McManus (114) in sixth, Chris McGuire (63) in seventh, Mike Harris (18H) in eighth, Danny Rich (67X) in ninth, and Nick Kocuba (10) rounded out the top ten. Heat race winners were Gordon (25G) and Schneider (55). Schneider (55) also won the dash.

In the Diehl Automotive RUSH Late Model Dirt Series non-qualifiers eight-lap feature, Dobnak (42) started on the pole. To his outside was Tom Duratz (55D) from Carnegie, PA. Andy Spooner (3A) from Cassville, WV started in third, while Paul “Jabo” Jablonski (3JX) from Carnegie, PA started in fourth, Cory Sines (25S) started in fifth, Chris Lander (18L) from Burgettstown, PA started in sixth, and Zach Gunn (114G) rounded out the seven-car field. When the green flag dropped, Dobnak (42) would retain an early lead. Lap three saw the event’s lone caution for the 114G of Z. Gunn who spun out in turn two. Dobnak (42) would lead the field on the restart and would lead the remaining five laps of the event picking up his first PPMS win. Following him to the line was Duratz (55D) in second, Jablonski (3JX) in third, Z. Gunn (114G) in fourth, Spooner (3A) in fifth, Lander (18L) in sixth, and Sines (25S) in seventh.

The 2018 Pittsburgher 100 will go down in the record books as one to remember. From the rain, mud, and crazy October heat, to the door to door, edge of your seat racing. Miley Motor Sports would like to thank the fans, drivers, race teams, and everyone else who supports the sport that we all love. Miley Motor Sports hopes that everyone has a great offseason and we will see you all at the track in May!